American Bungalow Magazine - The Magazine published in the interest of preserving and restoring the modest American 20th Century Home, the Bungalow, and the rich lifestyle that it affords.

by Tim Counts

In the time of silent cinema, a theater’s organist held an important position. Long before the days of Dolby and THX sound systems, he or she would provide a live musical soundtrack for the enormously popular “moving pictures.”

Another duty of the organist was to accompany sing-alongs, either before the show or while reels were being changed. As the musician tickled the keys, an assistant would run glass slides through a “magic lantern” that threw lyrics and images onto the screen.

The sing—along slides shown here illuminate another aspect of the Zeitgeist:  the bungalow. The fact that a bungalow was given top billing over the songs love interest gives us an idea of the home’s status at the time. The slides—still packed in their original shipping carton—turned up recently in an antiques shop in Illinois. If there was ever a musical score with them, it had been lost. The carton, though, provided some clues to the slides’ history. It is addressed to Billy Muth, organist, Texas Theatre,  San Antonio.  The theatre opened on December 18, 1926,  and was described in a newspaper of the day as “a magnificent structure. . . of Spanish-colonial design.”

Still, even as crowds were singing paeans to a cozy domicile accompanied by Mr. Muth’s music in a sparkling- new theater, the heyday of both bungalows and silent movies was waning. The “talkies” would shortly silence theater organs. Housing tastes were changing. New, streamlined designs were being touted as “doing much to compensate for the less attractive ‘California bungalow’ which was in great vogue several years ago.” according to a 1920s builder’s magazine. An era was coming to an end.

The Texas Theatre was razed in 1982 after a protracted battle between the bank that owned it and historic preservation groups. One facade was saved and affixed to the modern office tower seen here. But the set of slides, small enough to avoid the machinery of progress, survived intact. Now, as the nation rediscovers the charms of the bungalow, light shines through them once again.

The song illustrator allowed himself some artistic license: The interior of the Colonial—revival bungalow seems to be on a somewhat larger scale than its exterior, and the surrounding grounds are worthy of Versailles. But when these images were first viewed, America was still in the midst of a love affair with the bungalow.  And as anyone who’s been in love will tell you. the object of one’s affection can appear to be endowed with qualities of mythic proportions.

Magic Lantern Image Courtesy of Magic Lantern Castle Museum in San Antonio, Texas